Cellar flood- Don’t know where it coming from

Arsenal2019

Hi guys,

I’ve recently bought a house and have noticed that my cellar has water coming in, not a lot, but noticeable.

I filled up all the holes in the wall and anywhere I thought the water would be able to come in. I also rendered up the wall, the first 2 feet.

However, water is still coming in.!!! Is there anything I can do to see where the water is coming in from?
Like any tests, any powder or dye which I can put somewhere which will show water.

It’s very very frustrating!

Thank you

Ant555

is it clean water and have you had a lot of rain recently?

It could be a leak in an underground street-level pipe.

If neighbouring houses have cellars then is it possible to check/ask if they have the same? It could be that at this time of the year the water table is high.

FWIW I was absolutely amazed to see a few years ago that a friends house had an inch of standing water under his floor boards downstairs (no cellar) - he said it always did that after prolonged periods of rain and all the neighbours were the same due to the 'water table' in the area but it was the first time I had ever seen such a thing.

Davesnave

It's probably perfectly usual for this to happen after heavy rain, like we've been having recently.

The only way to prevent a cellar flooding is by what's called 'tanking' it, which is an expensive process very different from DIY plugging of holes in the wall. Rendering isn't good enough either.

Some people construct a sump in their cellars and use a float-activated pump to send water into a surface drain. This won't stop the cellar being damp, but it will shift the bulk of the water once the level in the ground falls again and it may keep up with the ingress if they're lucky.

Gloomendoom

Mine flooded during periods of heavy rain. I initially thought that it was just the water table rising.

However, the cause was traced to a broken drain taking rainwater away from the gutter down pipes. That was fixed and it hasn't flooded since.

Arsenal2019

Hi guys thanks for your replies.

Yes!, it has happened because of the heavy rain recently, although it also happens when there is light rain.

Yes, I’ve heard of tanking before, and no way do I want to pay that much for it, especially as I’m a first time buyer and just moved in.

One neighbours cellar floods badly and the other gets a bit too.

I wouldn’t say the water was the cleanest. However, it is difficult to say as the the water may be clean but it’s coming through dirt/soil/stone.

How would I go about finding out if there is there any issues with a water pipe? Would I be liable to pay for this if this was the case?

Thanks

PasturesNew

Everywhere has a natural water table level. If you go outside and start digging a hole, at some point you will find your hole is filling with water. This might be 1-2' down, or 20-30' or 100' ... whatever depth it's at, that is the local/natural water table. When it's wetter the level of that water table will rise.

If your cellar's depth sits just on/above that water table, then as soon as the level rises, it'll leak into the cellar. This is all natural stuff...

The neighbours will know about the water table if they've got cellars... go speak to them.

The only way to stop it is to tank it.

Arsenal2019

Thank you. I shall hve a word with them.

Would cementing up the walls, rendering the walls basically solve the problem ?

Also is there a way I can find out where about the water is coming in exactly? With some dye or powder or some gadget or whatever?

that

Richardroberts1 wrote: »

Is there anything I can do to see where the water is coming in from?
Like any tests, any powder or dye which I can put somewhere which will show water.

Tried KoolAid - the ones in packets? Multiple colours (but probably best to use the dark ones), absorbs water, non poisonous. With a little imagination in application it could be an effective solution?

Novice_investor101

My cellar used to be really damp & had water rising from the ground. I had a thick plastic membrane (visqueen?) Put down & then cement over the top & it's been dry ever since. I do live on a hill so I'm guessing the ground water is working its way down the hill & no longer has a path to come up in my cellar.

Davesnave

Richardroberts1 wrote: »

How would I go about finding out if there is there any issues with a water pipe? Would I be liable to pay for this if this was the case?

There are basically two types of water pipe: drains and water supplies.

A drain is your responsibility to the point at which it is shared with others, when it becomes the water authority's to fix.

A water supply pipe is similar; yours where it comes over the property boundary.

There are thousands of leaking water mains and drains. Bad ones get dealt with and the rest go largely unnoticed.

But it's highly likely that the water is coming in because of the reasons Pastures New explained and that the cellar was never designed to be totally dry.

Davesnave

Novice_investor101 wrote: »

My cellar used to be really damp & had water rising from the ground. I had a thick plastic membrane (visqueen?) Put down & then cement over the top & it's been dry ever since. I do live on a hill so I'm guessing the ground water is working its way down the hill & no longer has a path to come up in my cellar.

Your solution could work for the OP, but it's a trial and error thing.

I have a barn where, in extreme conditions, water used to come up through a floor crack and collect at the lowest point to a depth of around 30mm. The barn's on a slope. If I'd plonked a membrane down and put 100mm of concrete on top, I think that would have cured this problem, but I did nothing at all.

Now, the water doesn't come in at all in winter. As I've done nothing, and nothing else has changed, my only explanation is that an underground spring has gone a different way. It could also return, any time!